So much news to write about, and so little time-- what's one to do? Call in the Ripot-man, of course!

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First up: As you may have heard, those who achieved Platinum status with North America's Club Nintendo by the end of June 2014 are eligible to be to receive four codes to download the demo version of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and play as much as they wish!

Today, Club Nintendo members who have achieved Platinum status between July 1, 2013, and June 30, 2014, have registered Nintendo 3DS hardware or software, and have opted in to receive emails from Club Nintendo will receive an email containing four download codes for the demo.

Not every Club Nintendo member is getting the code, mind you, but if you qualify and haven't received yours, be sure to check the different tabs and folders implemented by your e-mail program. In Gmail, for instance, the message has been known to come through the "Promotions" tab.

For everyone else: No worries! By this time next week (September 19th), the demo will be available for everyone to download (and the codes will no longer work, incidentally, so be sure to get on that). Unlike the Club Nintendo version of the demo, however, the regular version will only be playable a maximum of 30 times.

Speaking of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, The Mega Man Network alumni Heat Man recently hosted his own live stream of the Japanese demo. You can find the videos of him using each character here, while the Mega Man ones are presented here for your convenience.

And here, we have him taking on three Level 9 Blue Bombers (starting around the 5:42 mark)!

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So long as we're on the subject of Nintendo, Mega Man 7 received something of a stealth launch in the North American Nintendo eShop on Wii U. Though it was completely left out of this week's Nintendo Download, the following trailer popped up on YouTube:

Nintendo apparently mentioned it during their livestream yesterday, no doubt to coincide with the launch of the Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS demo and the Blue Bomber's appearance therein.

On a personal note, I actually learned a trick or two from this video. Namely that you don't need to jump when using the Slash Claw on Shade Man's pumpkin-themed mid-boss, and that the Proto Shield can defend you from the flying tires in Turbo Man's stage.

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Speaking of said livestream, here it is, in all of its eight and a half-hour glory.

In addition to Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (which I believe comes during the later portion of the video), they also look at such upcoming titles as Hyrule Warriors, Captain Toad's Treasure Tracker, Bayonetta 2, and more.

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Shifting gears a bit, Auto passed along word of this edition of ScrewAttack's "Screwin' Around" in which the guys play the beta version of Mighty No. 9. I haven't seen it, but seeing as things can get a little NSFW with them, caution is advised.

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Speaking of Mighty No. 9, a quick tip from Mighty No.26Ω34 (and we're a little late on this one-- our apologies) says that the Backer rewards surveys have been sent out, so if you contributed to getting Mighty No. 9 made, you need to make sure you got yours.

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Next, USgamer's Jeremy Parish closes us out with a video that ties everything together.

In summation, he takes a brief look at the falling out between Capcom and Keiji Inafune (and some theories regarding it), and notes that though Mega Man is doing all sorts of things that don't include starring in his own new games, his spirit does indeed live on through the efforts of the people (rather than the brand) who helped bring him to our screens in the first place.

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I thought I had reported on this one; my apologies to Mario Melendez.

As you may know from reading the site, we feature a review of Archie's Mega Man comic book each month, courtesy of Erico and The Blue Ink. However, for those who speak Spanish and are unable to get the comic, Mario has begun doing his own video reviews of the comic, and you'll soon be able to find them here.

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Finally, for those who enjoy stick figure animations comes this tribute to Mega Man X from Stickpage.com, by way of a tip from GeminiSparkSP.

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I think I might have broken some sort of record for the most uses of "speaking of" in a single article. In any case, we hope you enjoyed this round-up of what's been going on in the world of blue robots... and blue people now, too, I guess.

Now, assuming I'm not too busy this weekend (or otherwise distracted), I do have something a little less blue and a bit more green to work on here.